[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PAYING TRIBUTE TO DETECTIVE MIKE THOMAS

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                        HON. THOMAS G. TANCREDO

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2006

  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a fallen 
policeman from Colorado, Mike Thomas.
  This week thousands of Coloradans paid their respects to Detective 
Thomas, who was killed earlier this month while waiting at a stoplight. 
According to reports, officers came from as far away as Canada to pay 
their respects.
  Mr. Thomas was a longtime dedicated public servant. He spent more 
than two decades serving the community as a policeman, and like his 
father Delbert, was an Air Force veteran. He will be sorely missed.
  I was particularly moved by an account I read in The Denver Post 
about Mr. Thomas recounted by police Captain Jerry Hinkle. Hinkle told 
those gathered at the funeral about a card the department had received 
from a well-wisher named ``George'' after news of Mike Thomas' tragic 
death. In the card, George wrote about how when he was a teenage gang 
member whose future prospects looked bleak, he encountered Mr. Thomas. 
Thomas pulled up to the boy in his squad car, Hinkle said, and told him 
to get in. The two talked, and today George is the owner of a 
successful security company.
  Mr. Speaker, all Coloradans owe a great debt of gratitude to Mike 
Thomas, and all of the men and women of law enforcement who risk their 
lives each day to guarantee our safety.
  He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

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